Aruba Airwave vs Cisco DNA Center comparison

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Cisco are both solutions in the Network Management Applications category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.1, while Cisco is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.4. Hewlett Packard Enterprise holds a 4.0% mindshare in NMA, compared to Cisco’s 14.4% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

Aruba Airwave

Read 26 Aruba Airwave reviews

1,305 Views
1,161 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Cisco DNA Center

Read 43 Cisco DNA Center reviews

7,244 Views
3,550 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Aruba Airwave

Cisco DNA Center

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 2, 2025

Aruba Airwave and Cisco DNA Center compete in the network management and automation category. Cisco DNA Center appears to have the upper hand due to its advanced network automation, security integration, and comprehensive centralized management capabilities.

Features: Aruba Airwave supports multi-vendor environments and offers robust monitoring capabilities, allowing visibility and troubleshooting across networks. Its zero-touch provisioning is valuable for quick setup without manual interference. Visual RF provides visual location analytics for efficient troubleshooting. Cisco DNA Center provides extensive network automation and analytics, allowing centralized management, security integration, and effective deployment of configurations to minimize errors. It excels with its AI-driven analytics, making it user-friendly and insightful for network engineers.

Room for Improvement: Users of Aruba Airwave suggest improvements in integration with other systems and an easier error notification process. The UI synchronization between CLI and GUI also needs enhancement. Cisco DNA Center feedback indicates the need for better third-party product integration and enriched reporting features. Its complex licensing structure and high pricing remain areas for dissatisfaction.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both Aruba Airwave and Cisco DNA Center primarily offer on-premises deployment. Cisco also supports hybrid and private cloud setups. Cisco's customer support is often preferred for its faster response times and thorough escalation process, especially for complicated technical issues, although both solutions are rated highly by users.

Pricing and ROI: Aruba Airwave is viewed as more cost-effective with per-device licensing, providing substantial ROI by increasing productivity and cutting troubleshooting time. Cisco DNA Center, despite its comprehensive features, carries a higher price, which can be prohibitive for medium-sized businesses. The licensing is complex, but the investment can be justified by the extensive network insights and management capabilities it offers.

To learn more, read our detailed Aruba Airwave vs. Cisco DNA Center Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Airwave vs. Cisco DNA Center

December 2025

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Helped 879,853 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

ROI

Sentiment score

5.8

Aruba Airwave provides long-term ROI with efficient troubleshooting, significant cost savings, and improved productivity despite initial hardware costs.

Sentiment score

5.4

Cisco DNA Center offers ROI through time savings despite its cost with a user rating of 4/5 to 7/10.

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Aruba Airwave report

Although Cisco DNA Center is expensive, we have seen a return on investment in terms of time savings.

Ahmed Helmy

Sr. Director, Business Development & Sales Operations at connect professional services

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco DNA Center report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

6.4

Aruba Airwave technical support is praised for effective service, knowledgeable staff, and multilingual communication, despite occasional slower responses.

Sentiment score

6.2

Cisco DNA Center support is generally well-received, though some users encounter delays and desire better documentation and consistency.

I would rate their technical support as a nine or ten, as it's quite good.

Edward Zeng

Senior Network Engineer at Auckland University of Technology

Angie was very kind and communicated well in both Spanish and English, making it pleasant to connect with her.

reviewer1877184

TI at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Aruba Airwave report

Overall, Cisco DNA Center rates eight out of ten as a complete solution.

Ahmed Helmy

Sr. Director, Business Development & Sales Operations at connect professional services

The support for Cisco DNA Center is good.

Mahir Öztürk

Network Engineer at NGN Bilgi ve İletişim Hizmetleri

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco DNA Center report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.0

Aruba Airwave is scalable, supporting different user counts and environments, often used with Cisco tools, rated highly for scalability.

Sentiment score

7.6

Cisco DNA Center offers scalable network management with effective expansion, despite limited IPv6 support and high licensing costs.

Aruba Airwave gives good information about SNR value, signal value, and you can get extensive information.

Ahmet Bulbul

Senior Network Consultant at Data Market

Aruba Airwave is fully scalable, as we have a large number of tenants using the network with approximately six thousand end users.

reviewer1854369

Executive at a government with 201-500 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Aruba Airwave report

From my experience, we can easily manage numerous devices.

Mahir Öztürk

Network Engineer at NGN Bilgi ve İletişim Hizmetleri

The solution is designed for large enterprise companies.

Ahmed Helmy

Sr. Director, Business Development & Sales Operations at connect professional services

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco DNA Center report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.6

Aruba Airwave is stable, reliable, and highly rated, with minor manageable issues during high usage and integration.

Sentiment score

7.5

Cisco DNA Center is generally stable, with users praising its reliability despite minor bugs and stability challenges.

As it is centralized, sometimes it disconnects from the cloud, and I need to reboot.

Arun-M

Server Administrator at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees

I have found Aruba Airwave to be stable.

reviewer1854369

Executive at a government with 201-500 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Aruba Airwave report

When we communicate problems, they solve them effectively.

Mahir Öztürk

Network Engineer at NGN Bilgi ve İletişim Hizmetleri

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco DNA Center report

Room For Improvement

Aruba Airwave requires cost reduction, system integration, UI simplification, pricing changes, and better synchronization, support, and compatibility.

Cisco DNA Center needs better integration, pricing, UI, stability, deployment, reporting, training, and troubleshooting for improved usability.

The end-to-end users' messages show some details that are not always up-to-date, and sometimes the information from the GUI is not exactly aligned with what's on the website.

Edward Zeng

Senior Network Engineer at Auckland University of Technology

I find the price of Aruba Central compared to Aruba Airwave to be more expensive.

Ahmet Bulbul

Senior Network Consultant at Data Market

When attempting to copy a floor plan, it does not copy well, so I often have to redraw the walls.

reviewer1854369

Executive at a government with 201-500 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Aruba Airwave report

The AI-driven insights have contributed significantly to faster troubleshooting and predictive analytics.

Ahmed Helmy

Sr. Director, Business Development & Sales Operations at connect professional services

The client history in Cisco DNA Center can be longer than 10 days, perhaps extending to 15 or 20 days.

Mahir Öztürk

Network Engineer at NGN Bilgi ve İletişim Hizmetleri

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco DNA Center report

Setup Cost

Aruba Airwave licensing is seen as complex and costly, yet often cheaper than Cisco, with variable pricing flexibility.

Cisco DNA Center's high costs and licensing requirements can deter smaller businesses, appealing mainly to large enterprises.

The pricing for Aruba Airwave is acceptable because compared to Cisco, it's slightly cheaper, but not significantly - maybe 5% or 7% less expensive.

Edward Zeng

Senior Network Engineer at Auckland University of Technology

For more quotes and insights, download the Aruba Airwave report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco DNA Center report

Valuable Features

Aruba Airwave provides multivendor support, robust reporting, real-time analysis, and easy network management with zero-touch provisioning and Visual RF.

Cisco DNA Center provides analytics, centralized management, and enhanced security with automation, real-time monitoring, and AI-driven network insights.

Aruba Airwave provides good visibility, offering extensive data on network dynamics, such as access point connections, usage, signal strengths, and potential interference from neighboring Wi-Fi networks.

reviewer1854369

Executive at a government with 201-500 employees

It provides near real-time monitoring using AIMON and AURO protocols, which is robust with multiple models and brand support.

reviewer1877184

TI at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees

The feature that proved most beneficial for our organization's network monitoring is the virtual four, which we use frequently when working with Aruba.

Edward Zeng

Senior Network Engineer at Auckland University of Technology

For more quotes and insights, download the Aruba Airwave report

If there is a problem, I can inspect the situation and see what is happening, which is beneficial.

Mahir Öztürk

Network Engineer at NGN Bilgi ve İletişim Hizmetleri

The most valuable features include AI-driven insights which make troubleshooting much easier.

Ahmed Helmy

Sr. Director, Business Development & Sales Operations at connect professional services

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco DNA Center report

Categories and Ranking

Aruba Airwave

Ranking in Network Management Applications

6th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Cisco DNA Center

Ranking in Network Management Applications

1st

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (18th), Network Automation (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Network Management Applications category, the mindshare of Aruba Airwave is 4.0%, down from 7.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 14.4%, down from 28.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Management Applications Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cisco DNA Center	14.4%
Aruba Airwave	4.0%
Other	81.6%

Network Management Applications

Featured Reviews

Edward Zeng

Senior Network Engineer at Auckland University of Technology

Troubleshooting obstacles occur but technical support excels

My general opinion on Aruba Airwave is that it's acceptable, but it's not ideal because we are accustomed to Cisco. We didn't use Aruba much, but once you set it up, you probably don't need to worry about it too much. The version we are using is quite old now, probably around version four. I can't remember the version exactly because a lot of the products require Aruba Central, but we haven't used Aruba Central yet. I face challenges with Aruba Airwave, particularly with troubleshooting. When someone has a problem, we try troubleshooting, but the end-to-end users' messages show some details that are not always up-to-date, and sometimes the information from the GUI is not exactly aligned with what's on the website. If Aruba Airwave can apply AI capabilities, that would be even more perfect. I'd appreciate integration with Aruba Central; it would be great if they could incorporate it into Airwave.

Read full review

Mahir Öztürk

Network Engineer at NGN Bilgi ve İletişim Hizmetleri

Client history has helped resolve past network issues more efficiently

I mostly use the client history feature of Cisco DNA Center. I didn't use the real-time monitoring capability of Cisco DNA Center because I primarily used it for client history regarding issues and problems. I don't use it for real-time monitoring. If there is a problem, I can inspect the situation and see what is happening, which is beneficial.

Read full review

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

10%

Computer Software Company

Educational Organization

Manufacturing Company

12%

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	14

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	9
Large Enterprise	25

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Airwave?

I think the solution is quite affordable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Aruba Airwave?

They have other sensors which can manage and control all the sites. There is an IoT component where we can restrict internet services such as Facebook and YouTube. These things can also be managed....

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Aruba Airwave?

For Aruba Airwave, I am using the wireless devices for the Wi-Fi for the full company with access points. This is the top product I feel, and I see in the Gartner also. It is a good product and eas...

See all answers

What do you like most about Cisco DNA Center?

The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it gives some kind of ease in operations, especially since our company is moving from CLI to GUI-based configuration.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco DNA Center?

After evaluating other solutions, we will provide feedback.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco DNA Center?

In my opinion, the client history in Cisco DNA Center can be longer than 10 days, perhaps extending to 15 or 20 days. I am using it in a huge factory in Turkey, and sometimes I need to see what occ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Aruba ClearPass vs Aruba Airwave

Compared 21% of the time

HPE Intelligent Management Center vs Aruba Airwave

Compared 15% of the time

Cisco Catalyst Center vs Aruba Airwave

Compared 10% of the time

Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista vs Aruba Airwave

Compared 9% of the time

Huawei eSight vs Aruba Airwave

Compared 5% of the time

More Aruba Airwave Competitors

Cisco Catalyst Center vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 14% of the time

Juniper Mist Wired Assurance vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 6% of the time

Fortinet FortiManager vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 4% of the time

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 4% of the time

NetBrain vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 3% of the time

More Cisco DNA Center Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Airwave

January 2026

Download Aruba Airwave product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center

January 2026

Download Cisco DNA Center product report

Also Known As

No data available

DNA Center

Overview

Offering granular visibility into wired and wireless networks, AirWave is the only management platform designed with mobile devices and apps in mind. By proactively monitoring the health and performance of all things connected, AirWave lets IT gain the insights they need to support the digital workplace.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Cisco DNA Center delivers powerful centralized security, automation, and comprehensive analytics for enhanced network management. With an intuitive dashboard and integration with Cisco devices, it reduces errors, boosts efficiency, and ensures seamless wired and wireless network operations.

Organizations leverage Cisco DNA Center for network management and automation, offering increased visibility into traffic flows and efficient device provisioning. It supports real-time data transmission, network segmentation, and integrates with ISE. Features like wireless assurance, centralized management, and AI-driven insights into network health promote an efficient network environment while addressing compliance issues. However, improvements are necessary for better third-party integration, affordability, and more user-friendly documentation.

What are the solution's most important features?

Comprehensive Analytics: Provides in-depth network insights through real-time data.
Centralized Security: Unifies security management, offering enhanced protection.
Network Management: Simplifies device configuration and policy compliance.
Automation Capabilities: Reduces human error and facilitates efficient network operations.
AI-Driven Assurance: Delivers insights into network health for proactive management.

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Increased Efficiency: Streamlines operations by reducing manual tasks.
Improved Security: Enhances protection through centralized policies.
Cost Effective: Simplifies management, potentially lowering operating costs.
Enhanced Visibility: Offers comprehensive data for better decision-making.

In industries like healthcare, finance, and education, Cisco DNA Center's advanced features facilitate the management of complex network infrastructures and aid in achieving compliance efficiently. Its ability to manage LANs and WLANs supports diverse networking environments including greenfield projects and SPN setups.

Cisco

Sample Customers

Henkel, University of Findlay, University of Minnesota Duluth, University of Iowa

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Airwave vs. Cisco DNA Center

December 2025

Free Report: Aruba Airwave vs. Cisco DNA Center

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